web.de and mail.de are two different, unrelated providers. Their server names, ports and rules are not the same, and the settings for one will never work for the other. Find your provider below and use only that block.
Got a t-online.de, arcor.de, kabelmail.de, freenet.de or ok.de address instead? Those providers are covered in How to Add T-Online, Arcor and Freenet Accounts.
web.de
Start here: POP3/IMAP access is switched off
A new web.de mailbox has POP3 and IMAP access turned off. Until you turn it on, no mail app can connect — web.de's own troubleshooting lists this as the number-one reason setup in a mail program fails.
And it does not stay on. For security reasons, web.de automatically switches POP3/IMAP access back off if you don't use the program or app for an extended period. That is why an account that added fine and synced for a few days can stop on its own. Nothing is wrong in BlueMail — turn the access back on by the same path and sync resumes.
To turn it on (or back on), in web.de webmail in a browser:
- Click the icon showing your initials in the upper menu bar.
- Choose E-Mail-Einstellungen (Email Settings).
- Under E-Mail empfangen (Receive Email), choose POP3/IMAP.
- Turn on the slider POP3- und IMAP-Zugriff erlauben (Allow POP3 and IMAP access).
- Complete the security check by sliding the two symbols over each other.
This switch is on web.de's website, not in BlueMail.
web.de server settings
| Server | Port | Security | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Incoming (IMAP) | imap.web.de | 993 | SSL/TLS |
| Incoming (IMAP), alternative | imap.web.de | 143 | STARTTLS |
| Outgoing (SMTP) | smtp.web.de | 587 | STARTTLS |
| Outgoing (SMTP), alternative | smtp.web.de | 465 | SSL/TLS |
web.de requires TLS 1.2 or 1.3. TLS 1.0 and 1.1 are no longer accepted, so an old device or OS that can only offer those will be refused by the server.
mail.de
mail.de server settings
| Server | Port | Security | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Incoming (IMAP) | imap.mail.de | 993 | SSL/TLS |
| Incoming (POP3) | pop.mail.de | 995 | SSL/TLS |
| Outgoing (SMTP) | smtp.mail.de | 587 | STARTTLS |
| Outgoing (SMTP), alternative | smtp.mail.de | 465 | SSL/TLS |
There is no access switch to turn on for mail.de. Its setup documentation doesn't ask you to enable IMAP or POP3 first, and doesn't mention an app-specific password — so don't go looking for either. If mail.de won't connect, the cause is in the values above or in your password, not in a setting you've missed.
Where these go in BlueMail
Try the normal sign-in first. On the password screen, Allow BlueMail to auto-detect the server details of your account is ticked by default — leave it ticked and tap Next. If that works, you're done.
If BlueMail can't find the details, enter them by hand:
- First account? Tap Continue, type your email address, tap Sign in, then tap Having trouble? Manual Setup under the Sign in button. Already have an account in BlueMail? Go to Settings | Accounts | Add Account.
- On the Choose provider screen, tap Manual Setup at the bottom.
- Choose IMAP (or POP3, for mail.de).
- Fill in the form — it holds the server, Security and Port fields. Pick SSL, TLS or STARTTLS in the Security dropdown to match the table above, and use your full email address as the username.
Full walkthrough: Configuring your account manually.
It worked before and stopped
For web.de, check the POP3/IMAP slider first — see above. It switches itself off after a long gap, and re-enabling it is the whole fix.
For mail.de, there's no such switch, so check the server details on the account instead: Settings | Accounts | [tap the account] | Incoming/Outgoing Settings — see Edit Account.
Still stuck? Can't Add My Account works through the other usual causes, and Connection issues, sync failures or missing emails covers accounts that added fine but won't stay connected.
